Page 74 of 74 FirstFirst ... 2464697071727374
Results 1,096 to 1,106 of 1106

Thread: Chekhov Short Story Thread

  1. #1096
    Maybe YesNo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Near Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    9,420
    Blog Entries
    2
    Good point about being crushed by an implacable and indifferent reality.

    I found it odd that Vanka could write so well, but I let that go because the overall story was so nice. What I mainly remember is his belief that the letter would be delivered and this gave him peace.

  2. #1097
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Beyond nowhere
    Posts
    11,110
    Blog Entries
    2
    Just read "A Transgression":http://www.eldritchpress.org/ac/jr/124.htm

    A very good story with an unexpected ending!
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  3. #1098
    Maybe YesNo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Near Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    9,420
    Blog Entries
    2
    I read "Anna on the neck": http://www.eldritchpress.org/ac/jr/180.htm It was about poverty, money and beauty rising above it all but not in a beautiful way.

  4. #1099
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Beyond nowhere
    Posts
    11,110
    Blog Entries
    2
    I agree with you. But I guess at the beginning choices for Anna were limited. Having married a man she didn´t even like because of her family, she learnt to make the best of a bad job, and live the way she liked.
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  5. #1100
    Maybe YesNo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Near Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    9,420
    Blog Entries
    2
    I read A Transgression after you mentioned it. It does have an unusual ending.

    The story "Anna on the neck" got me thinking yesterday about groups of people and how they "evolve". In this story the family groupings were shifting as they must with each new generation as members of the groups make their choices. The original family because of the father's alcoholism was at risk. The children tried to keep it together. The daughter was able to escape, but at the price of not being able to solidify a family of her own. Her husband wasn't able to create a family or he would have done so by now. That makes three characters in the story who are not able to support a stable family group. Although the daughter looks like she is in good shape her indifference to her brothers and hostility toward her husband makes me suspect there is tragedy in store for her as well.

    It is also interesting how Chekhov used addiction, in particular, alcoholism. Clearly the father was at fault for his inability to control his drinking. This the reader would pick up on easily, but so was his son-in-law who had no alcohol problem at all and explicitly criticized his father-in-law's drinking. His son-in-law's careerism may have been an addiction as bad as alcoholism as far as his new family is concerned. He is paying the price through his trophy wife whom he now can't get rid of. His daughter, also not an alcoholic, was addicted to socializing.

  6. #1101
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Beyond nowhere
    Posts
    11,110
    Blog Entries
    2
    I agree with you, I think one of the things Chekhov depicts in several of his stories are the social relationships. The indifferent ones (those without empathy) are very often the rich and/or powerful ones. The dependents, which often suffer from this indifference are the poor, the children the animals. Anna would be a social climber. She is born in a poor family and has this father, who is addicted to alcohol. By marrying a rich man she doesn´t care for she first intends to provide for her family. But as she discovers her own female power she loses the fear from her husband and learns to provide for herself. But Chekhov stops short of a possible tragedy. In the French realism, which is still harder the story would probably include the tragedy.
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  7. #1102
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Beyond nowhere
    Posts
    11,110
    Blog Entries
    2
    Read "Grisha" a portrayal of a very small boy, who is going out for the first time. http://www.eldritchpress.org/ac/jr/056.htm
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  8. #1103
    Maybe YesNo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Near Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    9,420
    Blog Entries
    2
    Chekhov's story sets up the tension for even deeper tragedy as you mention. I'll read Grisha tonight.

  9. #1104
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Beyond nowhere
    Posts
    11,110
    Blog Entries
    2
    Yes, sometimes Chekhov seems to suggest another end for the story, one that goes beyond his own end and is born of the imagination of the readers.
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  10. #1105
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Beyond nowhere
    Posts
    11,110
    Blog Entries
    2
    Just read "A Trifle from Life" another story with a little boy as protagonist. He was very observant of small creatures, it seems.

    http://www.eldritchpress.org/ac/jr/083.htm
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  11. #1106
    Maybe YesNo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Near Chicago, Illinois USA
    Posts
    9,420
    Blog Entries
    2
    Taking the perspective of a two-year-old was interesting in Grisha.

Similar Threads

  1. Searching for Holocaust short story
    By richards1052 in forum General Literature
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 09-27-2014, 06:52 PM
  2. Annual Short Story Competition 2008!
    By Scheherazade in forum 2008 Contest Archive
    Replies: 46
    Last Post: 12-28-2008, 08:08 AM
  3. Writing a Short Story
    By Hunnii in forum Short Story Sharing
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 12-22-2007, 02:59 AM
  4. Shop Talk, My Short Story
    By Virgil in forum Short Story Sharing
    Replies: 36
    Last Post: 04-06-2007, 07:31 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •